800m. Almost certainly the finest winter climb in the UK available to weekend warriors, and certainly the longest. Tower ridge continues to fascinate and compel, with a magnificent mix of wall, ridge, and traverse lines taking the boldest classic alpine route almost to the very summit of Britain's highest mountain. The two crux pitches, the eastern traverse and the Tower Gap are formidable obstacles in any conditions, and many a party has been benighted attempting to solve their mysteries. On a ridge like this, route finding should be obvious, but in poor weather it can be a nightmare.J.N.Collie, G.A.Sollie, J.Collier 30/Mar/1894

Stunning weather and 'alpine' conditions - can't claim a proper winter ascent with dry rock interspersed with snow and ice sections, but a cracking day out nonetheless.Rob84 - Lead O/S - 19/Apr/15 with Mel

A fresh covering of snow made it harder to move quickly and find gear, but good neve underneath. Climbed as 2 pairs with Steven Carter and James and Henry Smith. Some absorbing pitches - never harder than III but no time to faff around! No other parties on the ridge and some atmospheric weather conditions led to a memorable day. 12 hours from N Face carpark and back.gazzagabb - Lead - 24/Mar/15

Not in winter condition today - raining on the summit and the route was essentially a wet scramble with a bit of snow here and there, so we down climbed from the Little Tower and saved it for a proper winter day.Rob84 - AltLd dnf - 20/Mar/15

What a day! Perfect weather and perfect conditions. 3 SUMC parties on the route, all made it to the top and hung around on the summit for ages. Descended CMD.Euan Todd - AltLd O/S - 14/Mar/15 with Hugh Simons

Backed off as climb was taking too long - lots of powdered snow + heavily verglassed rock led to pitching most of it out. A long day morphed into a really, really long day. PanzerHanzler - AltLd dnf - 10/Mar/15 with Simon

Epic day out. Long waits at belays which led to us being benighted. We tried to descend after the eastern traverse due to the time but visibility was poor and the descent route was uncertain therefore we decided to continue. I led the great tower pitch with a head torch and Pete led tower gap. We led the ropes up for another group of 3 climbers to follow us. Topped out around 3 am and then walked back to the CIC hut. Additionally I led onto the little tower and the top out. Pete led the eastern traverse and the first chimney. Crux sections seemed to be the gap and the pitch up the great tower. A long but overall fun day/night out. gavinpeach - AltLd O/S - 29/Dec/14 with Dave Gillen, Pete Cuthil

Great route, fantastic views. Snow was a bit slushy therefore some bits were difficult. First grade IV in almost alpine conditions! Lead 5/6 pitches that we pitched.blue_sundown - AltLd O/S - 30/Mar/14 with Tom L

Amazing sunny day - everywhere else! On tower ridge we were intermittently blasted with spindrift from very gusty winds. The route is excellent, some tricky short moves and a variety of challenges but never desperate. The biggest challenge was the queuing before each of the tricky bits. Started at 7.30am, got to plateau at 8pm. 3 hours spent waiting! Got in a tangle as we belayed on the top of the block in the gap and everyone climbed past - ropes were caught and I couldn't climb out the other side as was being dragged down. Think we should have started from CIC at 6am. Stuart Hurworth - 2nd O/S - 24/Mar/14 with Manchester Climbing Club

Clear but very windy. Slow party at tower gap and getting dark so climbed into gap then exited by a variation to the left. Made a change as had previously done the normal exit when doing Glovers chimney. Descent via glissading down red burn - tons of avalnache debris present. Managed to grab a lift down from upper car park to NF car park. Great day. mattking_109 - AltLd - 24/Mar/14 with Simon D

Moved together most of the way. Swimming through powder to start then good ice and neve higher up. Felt like the alps with the stunning virgin snow ridges!machars - Lead - 23/Mar/14 with Bjorn Verduijn

Busy day with some queuing at the belays. Moved together most of the way. Lots of powder to start, some ice on route and good neve high up after tower gap. Interesting moves straddling the arÍte down to tower gap. Amazing day in alpine conditions.Andy Hewison - AltLd O/S - 23/Mar/14 with Paul

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 23/Mar/14

Fantastic route. Had three lengthy waits but was almost worth it for not having to route find or dig out gear and biggest buzz ever topping out in the dark. Sat belaying with head torch off looking at the stars - still buzzing now in work.spearing05 - AltLd O/S - 23/Mar/14 with Andrew

Moved together for most of it with Brian. Robin soloed most of it.AGoodi - AltLd - 23/Mar/14 with Robin, Brian Shackleton

from the north face car park. Started climb at 0800 and route completed by 1530. Route was heavily loaded with snow making the eastern traverse steep but able to climb the little tower and gap direct. Walk off via half way lochan. Low winds but white out conditions for most of the day.Roch - AltLd O/S - 01/Mar/14 with Gordon Henderson

An ambition for a whiole. On the day I think the only party on the route. More satisfying to have broken trail and found the route. The spindrift and wind and lack of consolodated snow made the Ridge the best option. Jumped Tower Gap because the climbdown was covered and looked horrible. Very hard to put protection in all up the route. We simply moved together and found almost no natural protection due to the covering of snow. A great and satisfying day.davidbird63 - AltLd O/S - 28/Feb/14 with David Adcock

Climb went swimingly, pun intended. The route was buried in snow with marginal gear options. Tower gap was an exciting double corniced wind romp. Made excellent time, though topped out in a full on blizzard with white out conditions making the descent quite arduous.thrillseekerz - 14/Feb/14

A lot of snow and not much gear. I confess to having pulled on gear a little while seconding the tower gap.jbb - AltLd - 17/Jan/14

Hidden - Lead O/S - 16/Jan/14

Hidden - 2nd - 13/Jan/14

A fantastic route, a great day, although conditions were a bit challenging. Lots of fresh snow, quite loose, no tracks, every runner and anchors had to be excavated from beneath snow. We finished route by headtorch and topped out onto summit plateau at 10pm.gravity - 2nd - 13/Jan/14 with Ben Tibbetts

Stunning conditions but we probably pitched more than we needed to. It got dark for the eastern traverse and we climbed the tower by head torches. Cold Bivouac at the top of the tower and escaped in the morning by down climbing to the traverse. mrterrynelson - Lead dnf - 28/Mar/13 with Brian Hodgson

Fantastic! Long time coming :) Just under 6 hours, great conditions. Led Douglas Gap pitch, bits of icy Little Tower, Eastern Traverse, Tower Gap entry and top out.Tom Last - AltLd O/S - 06/Mar/13 with Andy March

finnally ticked off this route in winter, soloed it in summer in 99, conditions were good, snow was compact but plentiful, ice was thud solid, lead after the gap upto summit , run out. the gap and traverse were mega, not at all out my depth, if it was thin then different story, quite a few others on route, waited 45mins at the gap , a party came uoto it from the chinmy, this route is mega, long day, but worth it, other partys can make it longer beware of this ,k2blow - AltLd - Mar/13 with john howes

finnally ticked off this route in winter, soloed it in summer in 99, conditions were good, snow was compact but plentiful, ice was thud solid, lead after the gap upto summit , run out. the gap and traverse were mega, not at all out my depth, if it was thin then different story, quite a few others on route, waited 45mins at the gap , a party came uoto it from the chinmy, this route is mega, long day, but worth it, other partys can make it longer beware of this ,there is plenty of protection too, in the right places, dont attempt route if visibilty is poor,k2blow - AltLd - Mar/13 with john howes

Soloed up to the wall. Si led the small wall, moved together to small tower, Si led small tower, moved together to Great Tower, Si led Eastern Traverse after much waiting. I led short wall up to ridge. Si descended into Gap, I led out of gap and we moved together to top. 7 hrs in all with around 2 hrs of waiting. Lumbering Oaf - AltLd O/S - 18/Feb/13 with Simon Caldrick

With Matt and Si. Wonderful sunshine, mostly good neve and ice. Started up Douglas Gully East solo, J lead out gap. Move together til wall then I lead. Moved together then alt-pitched little tower and moved to foot of great tower. Bit of a queue at the traverse due to hold ups ahead. I lead traverse, J lead wall, I lead down gap, J lead out then moved together. All good. 7 hours inc 2 hours queueing. Down to Clachaig dinner!Batt - 18/Feb/13 with James Hoyes

Fantastic route in bright sun and crystal visibility. A lot of bare rock and soft snow though so a bit harder than normal. Mainly moving together, pitched the traverses around the towers. stevelismore - AltLd O/S - 17/Feb/13 with James L

Fantastic route! Did the "directissima" up the steep ground before the little tower (probably IV 4) and went out too far right before going up the little tower (IV 4).James_L88 - AltLd O/S - 24/Jan/13 with Tom Furey

Awesome day out. Could have done with an earlier start, but there's nothing like topping out in the dark. Had to miss some off the easier bits due to deep unstable snow.Dave Douglas - AltLd O/S - 06/Feb/12 with Paul Freudenthal

A few delays so we didn't get on the route until ten but it all went fine and were finished by 3. Bobby led it all and I did a stirling job seconding. Sociable event with other parties including Bill and Lloydy. Not ideal conditions but neve on the last bit but snow more solid than last time I did it and more of it. No pro on the traverse which made it exciting. mikehenesy - 2nd O/S - 28/Jan/12 with Bobby Pearson

Not much ice. After the down climb probably went the wrong way as we followed som steps to the left to a piton in a not icy at all slab. Quite tecnical move there. Soloed the route from the begining to the 1st tower, then one pitch to leave space in betewen us and the people in front. Then moving together to the top.
Nice ridge! 5h. Acceptable to nice weatherpalimer - AltLd - 2012

With Julie Paton. CIC Hut weekend. Summited at dusk having been slow on the ridge despite no real issues with any of the actual climbing... Lamb shanks and whisky most welcome on return to the hut!MartF - Lead O/S - 26/Mar/11 with Julie

epic day out!rather damp and little mixed in character low down.traversed in,moving together, from observatory gully to avoid douglas gap.eastern traverse,wow!crux gaining top of great tower.ascended from tower gap on the left.fantastic!!tomshanti - 2nd β - 03/Mar/11 with nigel hooker

Brilliant weather and amazing route. We were up in just over 4 hours (thanks Donald)! and had time to come down no.4 and do another route.alifin - 2nd - 28/Feb/11 with Guide (Donald King) + Aidan Roe, Aidan Roe

Absolutely Stunning! The weather was some of the best I've ever seen in Scotland and the route was really good fun!Erik_M - 2nd O/S - 28/Feb/11 with Kenny Grant, Alex Tuck

Hidden - 2nd - 28/Feb/11

Turned out to be a long day - reached Tower Gap about 6pm but didn't top-out until after 9!Peter Metcalfe - Lead - 27/Feb/11 with Amanda Turner

Got stuck behind a slower party in front but the late finish gave fantastic views at sunsetConan - AltLd - 27/Feb/11 with Philippa Reader, Loz

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 26/Feb/11

Done as part of a mass Carlisle Club ascent, in the care of Steve McDonnel and Ray Cassidy. First pitch behind the Douglas boulder rather thin on ice, but thereafter good snow and ice for most of the route with the odd bit of mixed here and there. Eastern traverse...Wow! Tower gap, very hard, did ice ramp on the left rather than climbing direct out of the gap, which looked desparate. Thanks boys.John Holden - 2nd rpt - 26/Feb/11

Lots of fresh snow and far from the perfect conditions to be soloing the route but a great outing and first across Tower Gap. Ascended the Douglas Gap West Gully to avoid the crowds. 1pm top-out and climbed in under 3 hours from Douglas Gap.Big Lee - Solo O/S - 12/Feb/11

11 years after my first ascent wi little simon, where we fell asleep on tower gap:) Nat provided the highlights this time by gettin' stuck upside down...plugged the gap so she did:)Timo Austino - 12/Feb/11 with Nats

Conditions good, but the cloud came in half way up the ridge so made route finding hard from then on. The pitch up onto the ridge from Douglas gap was interesting. Got lost on the second tower, went off left, not a good idea! Eastern traverse was sporting and the gap was hairy! (Slight cross winds and a 30m run out from the belay into the gap). Good day despite all that :)Byakkonick - AltLd - 11/Feb/11

Went wrong a bit, muddled about (should have read the guidebook properly) but did the accepted route most of the way, with the original western traverse option. Best day of climbing I've had! Beautiful weather.jacobjlloyd - Solo O/S - 05/Feb/11

It is actually really straightforward if you bother to study the guidebook properly beforehand, hahaJdotP - Lead β - 26/Jan/11 with Tom Eadington

Hidden - AltLd - 23/Jan/11

Lead pitch up Great Tower and out of Tower Gap. RR lead E. Traverse, into gap and top pitch. Moved together on remainder. Gap was congested and awkward. RR on hanging belay off slings and several parties coming up Glovers Chimney. Fell a couple of metres into the gap on descent when axe pulled out! Fortunately no injuries except a slashed jacket arm! Fantastic route.DavPk - AltLd - 22/Jan/11 with Romain Rebut

Quite a good day out. The snow was mega soft and made it a long day outchmckay - 24/Nov/10 with Graham Boistelle

I had the entire face to myself, superb early season nick.mikemartin - Solo - 22/Nov/10

Pitched the first chimney, top of the great tower & the gap, soloed the rest. Great day out, surprisingly good conditions with snow starting to consolidate in places and the through route at the chock stone on the great tower still passable.isi_o - 21/Nov/10 with Rich Parker, Graham Stuchbury

lead 1st chimney ptich and the gap, rich lead pitch onto the top of the great tower. soloed the rest. Great day with great conditions for the time of year!Stuzz - AltLd O/S - 21/Nov/10 with Isi, Rich Parker

the rock was icy but snow free up until just below the eastern traverse. thereafter snow and ice all the way. we continued too far on the traverse and climbed directly up into tower gap.goatee - Lead O/S - 10/Nov/10 with Francis Jan Kluzniak

Absolutely loved this climb. It had a bit of everything. Unfortunately the clag was down so didn't get the full sense of exposure.Sutty22 - 2nd - 08/Apr/10 with Dan Carroll

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 08/Apr/10

Hidden - AltLd - 08/Apr/10

Hidden - Lead O/S - 06/Apr/10

Hidden - 2nd - 04/Apr/10

Hidden - Lead - 04/Apr/10

Lot of snow, started the walk in ranning, turned to snow above forest, and the sun came out as we started the ridge, all the snow and being genrally slow meant it took a long time, darkness fell as we reached the top of the great tower, topped out at half past midnight into a white out, spent the night in the summit shelter, walked out in the rain the next morning. 16hrs on the ridge, 26 and a half hour round trip. Annettes second winter route. Awsome experience.Brannock - Lead O/S - 04/Apr/10 with Annette

Hidden - 2nd - 04/Apr/10

Great days climbing with great snow conditions..Christian Beck - AltLd O/S - 03/Apr/10

Hidden - 2nd - 03/Apr/10

Mike led the E Traverse & Gap. Stuck behind a rope of 3, had to nav off in the dark & cloud.KeithW - AltLd O/S - 03/Apr/10 with Mike Nuttall

Great day out. Descended via No 4 GullyJohn Roe - Lead - 16/Mar/10 with Will Marshall

A cold night had firmed up the snow nicely. Pitched most of the mixed parts of the route, but moved together on the longer snow sections. Found the Eastern Traverse easy, although gaining the tower on the next pitch was rather bold. Led the gap, finding it quite awkward to committ my weight to the small ledge on the other side - maybe I was doing it wrong. Great day out, would do it again in an instant.Karlos - AltLd O/S - 16/Mar/10 with Mark B

Chris led any technical pitches, we moved together on easier ground.Roberttaylor - 2nd O/S - 13/Mar/10 with Crazy Chris

glad i wasn't leading it. the cruxes were scary especially considering the short amount of daylight left and the clouds surrounding us. Walk down was long and boringTHardSevere - 2nd O/S - 13/Mar/10 with jamie foxen

Joined from the top of Vanishing Gully/1934 route.niallk - AltLd rpt - 20/Feb/10 with Willie

glorious day, great conditions, lunch on the summit. took a bit over 5 hours from the hut I think. had to queue at the gap, but a good opportunity to take in the views.KeithAlexander - AltLd - 20/Feb/10 with Jelle Muylle

Hidden - AltLd - 20/Feb/10

Clear blue sky, firm squeaky neve and styrofoam ice. Took about 4 hours. Best day out in Scotland?ollythomas - AltLd - 20/Feb/10 with Chris Hendron

Totally class route done with the ben plastered in snow on a glorious sunny day. Topped out at sunset after being delayed by slow groups on th traverse and gap and a dangerous " guide" dragging a couple of incompetents and trying 2 climb over everyonejandyd05 - 2nd O/S - 19/Feb/10 with Andy Owen

Lots of snow but well consolidated, had to dig all the placements out. Thin but solid ice on the upper half. Heavy avalanch risk, we heard several releases in the morning, so descended the zigzag.Alexandre Buisse - AltLd - 06/Feb/10 with Dave E. Brown

Snow conditions not brilliant, some horrendous insecure loose 'cruddy' snow sections making some of the easier 'moving together' type ground much harder and more serious (for us necessitating some extra pitching). Lots of rime higher up and somewhat better although still not brilliant snow conditions. Starting chimney poorly iced and really rather difficult. Good day out though - we completed the route in around 6 hours.groovy_nut - AltLd O/S - 25/Jan/10 with Patrick

Clear day, bitterly cold, early start, late finish. Slow going in deep snow. The dicey snow meant we were forced to tackle the rock buttresses direct instead of out flanking them. I personally think the route is overated.Merlin - AltLd O/S - 24/Jan/10 with Alex Kelly

Brilliant. The route was in great condition, and lived up to my high expectations. We moved together over the easier ground - and I lead from the end of the Eastern Traverse up to the Great Tower, and into Tower Gap. A long, but thoroughly enjoyable day.J Brown - AltLd O/S - 09/Jan/10 with RK

soloed up to TG. pitched the gap (masa leads) then solo to the top out. joined the ridge from the west past douglas gap as eastern gully was not in. took 3 hrs from the ridge. best mountain route ive done.heart in throat on the eastern traverse!gb83 - Solo O/S - 12/Apr/09 with masa

First time up Ben Nevis- Fab! The lower part was in summer condition, but the upper part was wintry.Elsier - Lead O/S - 12/Apr/09 with Stuart

great day out, moved together, soloed and lead various bits. Dusting of snow lower section and bits of water ice getting out of Douglas Gap. Led Eastern Traverse, Tower Gap and top out which was all funlithos - AltLd - 11/Apr/09 with Simon C

Absolutely amazing day. Overnight the snow had refrozen and most of the ridge had a light cover of fresh snow. Quite sunny for the bottom half so felt very alpine. We roped up near the little tower and moved together or pitched the rest of the route. Started snowing at the eastern traverse so the end felt quite epic. I led tower gap which was rather exciting and the final snow slopes were a bit unnerving on loose snow. Took about 8.5 hours in total. We finished off by leading two groups of walkers off the plateau who were lost in the mist.Will Smith - AltLd O/S - 11/Apr/09 with Matt and Andy

Started up Eastern Gully. Rock with a little ice to below Little Tower then proper winter conditions above that. Pitched 3 sections, moved together or soloed the rest. A fantastic day. Descent via No 4.Simon Caldwell - AltLd - 11/Apr/09 with Carmen and Rob

Plastered with snow and rime. Moved together with the odd pitch thrown in, up to the Eastern traverse in 1.5hrs. Pitched the next bits - tricky move up the rime covered wall (harder than III) after the buried fallen boulder. Waited 2.5hrs at Tower Gap due to congestion. Thought most would have cleared it as we had started so late...niallk - AltLd O/S - 28/Mar/09 with Drew Connelly

Brillant route - loved it. The crux for me was getting out of Tower Gap. The Little Tower and Eastern Traverse were fine. Heading out into a worsening forecast meant we left the car park at 3.30am, on the route by 7 after abit of faffing around and topped out about midday with the wind picking up and vis dropping. Couldn't ab down 4 gully due to conditions so a long wet walk down the tourist track ensued.markfairbank - Lead O/S - 24/Mar/09 with SteveyM

Mist, rain, snow and wind. Oh and soft crumbling snow. Missed the start got back on it though, up the left side. Couldn't see the drops fortunately. Shitty soft snow but done in good time and style! mikehenesy - AltLd O/S - 20/Mar/09 with Chris Lodge

Brilliant weather, but route could have benefitted from more snow/ice. Eastern Traverse was helped by a large path. A bit windy in Tower Gap. Caught up with another team. From the Douglas Gap to the summit in 3hr 45mins.eldre070 - 2nd O/S - 19/Mar/09 with Mark Stevenson

2.5 hours from CIC hut. Moved together whole route. Could have been more wintery but still awesome :)JonHarvey - AltLd O/S - 23/Feb/09 with Jay Jackson

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 23/Feb/09

Superb winter conditions with rime and verglas higher up, good consolidated snow on the eastern traverse. Only three other parties seen on the rigde. A real pleasure to climb.John Carney - 2nd O/S - 19/Feb/09 with Rob Jarvis

Great route, goes without saying. Managed to walk to the gap rather than crawling! ET was thin and scary! The final top snow field was an exillerating romp to the top.wilkie14c - AltLd O/S - 11/Feb/09 with Dave Clarke

Snow down to Fort William. Quite powdery. Ended up avoiding Tower Gap (thankfully) by going further along the traverse (following footprints) than expected. Topped out in moonlight at 7.30pm (8h on ridge!)Cardi - AltLd O/S - 09/Feb/09 with Collin (Sarah's dad)

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 08/Feb/09

Lot of powder but not so bad. Beautiful day on the Ben. Led the Eastern Traverse to the cave and moving across the Gap.adamscottthomas - AltLd - 08/Feb/09 with Gwilym Starks

I tremember this as being about the 18th time on the ridge. Weather was absolute perfection but the snow iffy. Ab off at the gap only to find out later that the last couple of hundred feet had the best snow of the day. Got some excellent pictures that day.rossn - 2009

Backed off on the little tower due to the huge ammount of powder snow making things very slow going. Will be back later in the seson when things have firmed up and you dont have to spend the day clearing powder to find pro placements!!vincentvega - AltLd - 13/Dec/08 with danny robb

First grade 3 winter climb. Fantastic conditions. Started at 10 o'clock and had the climb to our selves. More new snow overnight made it even better with all the previous days tracks completly covered. Finished about about half five. Previous day head light torches were seen at 11 o'clock at night from our tent behind the CIC hut. steven - AltLd O/S - 10/Apr/08 with Matt Rushton

Perfect conditions 2-4 inches of powder sitting on top of perfect ice and neve. Blue skies and amazing views.
Took just over 5 hours, did it on a sunday and didn't encounter any parties on the actual ridge at all!CurlyStevo - AltLd - Mar/08 with Ben

What a beaut!!! took us 11hrs, with plenty of queuing on a fine sunny day with loads of other parties on the route. managed to fall out of tower gap which was quite scary!Neil Mackenzie - AltLd - 24/Mar/07 with Andy

Beautiful day with the ridge in great condition, pitched little tower; found the first pitch of this the the hardest bit with some interesting mixed moves. The eastern traverse and the gap were also pitched with the approach to the gap felling very exposed, I led out and got a belay on a hammered axe and a spike, Neil took a 10m fall when he tried to get out of the gap, very exciting. We toped out just as the sun went down. Took us 11 hours because of the queues, would say IV, 3 is an appropriated grade as its a very hard day, wow what a route.andymoin - AltLd O/S - 24/Mar/07 with Neil Mackenzie

Route in good condition, which unfortunately drew numerous parties to the ridge. Resulted in waits of up to two hours at the choke points of Eastern Traverse and Tower Gap. Topped out at 6 and descended in the dark in a blizzard.
CJE - AltLd O/S - 02/Mar/07 with Mark Anstey, Chris Haynes

after being spat out of .5 (heavy spindrifts) decided to do Tower Ridge. We roped up and move together from the eastern traverse. easy but magnificent. A real classicFrench Erick - Solo - 14/Apr/06 with Tom Chamberlain

An experience, some excellent climbing with a couple of scarey axe-dangling moments, took 5 and a half hours. Not sure how I would get across the gap without axes in the summer?!Feeling bold - 2nd - 08/Mar/06 with Mike (UK), Andy

Lovely sunny day, great views. Could enjoy it more this time than last time when I was soloing!nicholas Barrowclough - AltLd O/S - 07/Mar/06 with Tim Davies

Awesome route, took 4hours 20mins with claire despite getting stuck behind someone doing three pitches on the eastern traverse - would have prefered to do as 1.reg_measures - Lead O/S - 25/Feb/06 with claire salter

hard in deep powder and verglass. some difficult mixed climbing to regain the ridge after the eastern traverse.nicholas Barrowclough - Solo - 22/Dec/04

Excellent day out, faster than we anticipated. In the top three climbs I've done! Had a hariy start after going a bit far up the gully and then cut across on to the ridge on decidely dodgy snow.Rob Oram - AltLd O/S - 11/Apr/04 with James Booth

Soloed up to the Eastern Traverse. Snow on all of it but felt like summer Alpine conditions.Andrew Barker - Lead O/S - 30/Mar/04 with John Barker

Staying at CIC hut, so should have been first on route, but spent a couple of hours walking back down path looking for the axe Chris had lost on the walk-in in the dark. No joy. Now last on route, and had a long wait in queue at the Gap. But worked to our advantage: by the time we topped out, the all-day clag was breaking and we had the summit plateau to ourselves. I was greeted by a small twite (I think) looking at me quizzically: the only moving thing in all that white. Then back to CIC hut for whisky and philosophising deep into the night. A brilliant day.Andy Clarke - Lead O/S - 13/Mar/04 with ChrisB

Technically not difficult but committing. Climbed in dreadfull conditions. Just remember we went straight up the face after the first levelling instead of the diagonal rising ramp to the right. That put us behind schedule on what was an awful day anyway.rossn - AltLd O/S - Feb/03 with Nick Bryan

Dave fell into Tower Gap. Not helping himself by pulling the sling of the block as he went.
I made the mistake of belaying him from the gap.
No damage done though!Conan - Lead - 02/Mar/02 with Dave Goodman

My 2nd scariest climbing moment ever when Tony tested a belay and pulled the block out of the wall resulting in a full rope length fall (150 feet) off the side of the ridge. To this day, I still can't work out how I held on with no other protection! Continued to the summit with 2 broken ribs and a knackered rope.Conan - AltLd O/S - 29/Dec/96 with Tony Chaplin

Stuck behind a very slow party, and consequently onto the plateau in the dark and truly wild weather. Another descent down Five Fingers Gully! All part of the full Scottish experience!
An ascent with Paul Harding a couple of years later resulted in retreat from just below the Eastern Traverse with 20+ people in the queue ahead of us. Perfect neve too!Sean Kelly - AltLd - Jan/83 with Jim Symon